Are you planning a summer dinner party or grilling picnic and need a quick and easy starter? Try this summer ceviche recipe I created using fresh fish and peaches. You’re welcome.

The peach is one of my favorite summer fruits with its meaty, sweet flesh — and it’s the closest thing to the mango of my Hawaiian childhood. So I knew I wanted to make something out of peaches when they were plentiful.

Ceviche is also a perfect dish for the summer because it doesn’t require heating up the stove top. It’s light and easy to make, so it gives you more time to enjoy the wonderful weather outside.

Combining these two ingredients was a no-brainer for me. The clean, white flesh of the halibut chunks cured by lime juice and serrano chile bits were offset by the sweetness of the peaches. Pour the ceviche into martini glasses and you have a fancy starter for any summer party. Enjoy!

Anything looks like party food when served up in a martini glass

Summer Ceviche with Peaches Recipe
Makes 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients:
3-4 oz fresh white fish such as tilapia, 1/4-inch cubes
1 yellow peach, 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
half or 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and minced (start with half then add if you want more heat)
1 T cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about two limes)

In a small bowl, mix the fish chunks with lime juice then refrigerate for about 20 minutes. The lime juice will begin to “cook” the fish as you notice it’ll turn opaque after awhile.

In the meantime, bring a small bowl of water to a boil and drop the peach in, letting it soak in the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Then quickly drop into an ice bath, to let the peach cool. Remove from bowl and carefully tear away the skin, which should be easy to remove after it has been heated.

Remove the pit from the peach and cut into tiny cubes. Then add the peaches to the fish, along with onion, chile, and cilantro. Spoon into martini glasses and serve immediately.

TIP: When selecting a fish, ask your fish monger for what’s fresh. The simplest way is to find out which fish came in the morning, and were not previously frozen. Any white fish will work, and it doesn’t have to be sashimi grade. It just has to be fresh and cleanly handled and prepared. I just ended up using halibut, which is probably a more expensive variety, because it happened to be the only fish that was wild and not previously frozen.

Luckily in California, there are many varieties of sweet peaches to choose from. Look how fuzzy mine is.

I find raw fish so beautiful. This is a slab of wild halibut.

The recipe is wrapped up with half of a thinly sliced red onion and serrano chile